Co-sponsored by the Social Enterprise Program at Columbia Business School and the Program for Economic Research at Columbia University, this event brought together Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, who for more than 15 years have worked with the poor in dozens of countries spanning five continents, trying to understand the specific problems that come with poverty and to find proven solutions. Their book, Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, is revolutionary in its rethinking of the economics of poverty, but also entirely practical in the suggestions it offers. Through a careful analysis of a very rich body of evidence, including the hundreds of randomized control trials pioneered by Banerjee and Duflo’s lab has pioneered, they show why the poor, despite having the same desires and abilities as anyone else, end up with entirely different lives. Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, moderated the talk, while Professor David Weinstein, Director of the Program for Economic Research at Columbia University, introduced the speakers.